Snap catch



F. STREET.

SNAP CATCH.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 7, 1920.

1 $14,838. Patented May 2, 1922.

l U 22a 12 SNAP CATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent. I

Patented May 2,1222.

Application filed January 7, 1920. Serial No. 349,918.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, FRED S'rRnnr, a citizen of the United States,residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certainImprovements in Snap Catches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to snap catches of the type employed to fasten theends of jewelry chains and the like, and the object of my invention isto provide an improved snap catch which, though easily released, isstill absolutely secure when fastened.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1, is a vertical section of one form of my snap catch;

Fig. 2, is a detached perspective illustrating the details of the catchillustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, is a vertical section of a modified form of my snap catch;

Fig. 4:, is a detached perspective illustrating details of the modifiedsnap catch shown in Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5, is a detached perspective showing a further modification of thesnap catch.

With reference to the drawings, 1 is a casing, rectangular in thepresent instance, and

open-ended; said casing having portions of its upper and lower sides cutawayat 1 and 1 as most clearly shown in Fig. 2. 2 is an anchor memberwhich is carried upon one end of a chain or the like, and which isadapted to enter the casing 1 through one of the end openings thereof,as shown in Fig. 1, andindicatedin Fig. 2. The member 2 has, in thepresent instance, a base or body' portion 2*, from which extends two substantially parallel spring members or arms, 3 and 4:;said spring membershaving at their outer extremities shoulders 5, which are adapted toengage the sides of the apertures 1 and 1 in the casing, as illustratedin Fig.- 1, and thereby retain the member 2 within the said casing. 7

Established in the end of the casing opposite to that in which themember 2 is adapted to enter, is a forked releasing member 6; saidmember 6 having shoulders 6 upon the upper and lower faces which areadapted. to engage the sides of the apertures 1 and 1 in the casing 1,as illustrated in Fig. 1, and thereby retain the member within thecasing. The member 6 has two forks? and 8, and is adapted to be attachedto the end of the chain opposite to that carrying the instance,introduced into the casing through one of the apertures 1 and 1 and isleft 7 free for longitudinal movement in the casing,

In Fig. 1, I have shown the casing 1 surrounded by a sleeve 9 whichcovers the sides of the casing and the apertures l and 1", therebyeliminating any tendency of the member 6 from falling through one of theapertures 1 or 1 i Considering now Fig. 1, it will be apparent that anypressure'exerted upon the outer! end ofthe member 6, will force the saidmember into the casing 1, and will press together the spring arms 3 anda of the member 2, the outer ends ofwhich arms lie between the forks 7and 8, of the member 6. When the arms 3 and 4 have been sufiicient-lypressed together, the shoulders 5 will clear the edges of the apertures1 and 1 and the member 2 may be easily withdrawn from the casing,thereby separating the ends of the chain. To again secure 7 the ends ofthe chain together, it is merely necessary to slide the member 2 intothe casing 1 untilthe shoulders 5 again catch onthe edges of theapertures 1 and 1".

A catch of this type is capable ofstanding great strain, and there is notendency forthe member 2 to become loose until the member 6 is forcedinto the casing, and since normally thestrainswhich are placed upon thecatches of necklaces and like articles are tensile in nature, it'isapparent that a catch of this type will notbecome looseunless the member6 is deliberately pressed into the casing with the purpose of releasingthe member 2. I

In Fig. 3, I have illustrated a modified form of catch which while builtand operating upon the same principle. as that illustrated in Fig. 1, iscircular in form. In this case, the casing 9, which corresponds to thecasing 1, may be composed of two separate parts, 9 and 9*; said partsbeing held in proper relation to each other by an outer surroundingcasing lO, which is headed over at the ends in order to retain the saidsleeves 9 and 9 therein.- In this case, the member 11, which correspondsto the member 6, may be retained within the casing by means of shoulders11' which engage the ends of the casing 10, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

The member 12 corresponding to the member 2 is, in the present instance,circular in form, is also the mem 3131 11; the construction of these twomembers 11 and 12 being most clearly illustrated in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 5, I have shown an anchor member 13 and a releasing member 14,which are modified forms of the members 2 and 6, respectively. In thisinstance, the member 13 is substantially square and pyramidal at theends, and the member 14 is so formed that theextremities of the member13 fit into the interior thereof, and regardless of the relativepositions in which the two members may lie, there is always, when theme1n ber l i is pressed against the eirtremities of the member 13, acompressing action exer ed upon the two spring arms of the lattermemher.

It will be apparent that the invention is capable of numerousmodifications and changes of detail with no departure from the essentialfeatures.

I claim:

1. A snap catch comprising a casing, an anchor member adapted to beinserted in the casing and having a shoulder extending laterally fromthe side thereof, means in the casing adapted to be engaged by theshoulder to retain the member in the casing, resilient means associatedwith the anchor member for maintaining engagement between the shoulderand said retaining means, and means carried by the casing fordisengaging the shoulder to permit withdrawal of the anchor member fromthe casing.

2. A snap catch comprising a casing, an anchor member adapted to beinserted in the casing and comprising a resilient arm having a shoulderextending laterally from the side for retaining the member in thecasing, and means carried 'by the casing for flexing the arm to permitwithdrawal of the member from the casing. v

3. A snap catch comprising a casing, an anchor member adapted to beinserted in said casing and comprising a resilient arm having a lateralshoulder at the inner end thereof for retaining the said member in thecasing, and means carried by the casing for flexing said arm to permitwithdrawalof the anchor member from the casing.

at. A snap catch comprising a casing, an anchor member adapted to beinserted in said casing and comprising a plurality of independentresilient arms each having a shoulder extending laterally from the outerside thereof for retaining the member in the casing, and means carriedby the casing for flexing the arms to permit withdrawal of the anchormember from the casing. V

5. A snap catch comprising a casing, an anchor member adapted to beinserted in said casing and comprising a plurality of independentresilient arms normally separated at their inner ends, a shoulderextending laterally from the outer side of each of said arms and atthesaid inner ends thereof, said casing having reverse shoulders in theinterior adapted to be engaged by the shoulders of the anchor memberwhereby the latter is retained in the casing, and a release membermovable in the casing and adapted to compress the outer shoulder ends ofthe arms to permit withdrawal of the anchor memb r from the casing.

6. A snap catch comprising an inner casing having an aperture in theside thereof, an anchor member having a resilient element adapted to beinserted in said casing, a shoulder upon said resilient element adaptedto engage the side of said aperture to retain the anchor member in thecasing, and a release member movably mounted in the casing and adaptedto flex the resilient element to permit withdrawal of the anchor memberfrom the casing.

77. A snap catch comprising an inner casing having an aperture in theside thereof, an anchor member adapted to be inserted in said casing andhaving a member adapted to engage the side of said aperture to preventwithdrawal of the said anchor memher from the casing, and a membermovable in the casing and adapted to engage the said anchor member torelease the same from the casing.

8. A snap catch comprising an inner casing having an aperture in theside thereof, an anchor member having a resilient element adapted to beinserted in said casing, a shoulder upon the resilient element adaptedto engage the side of said aperture to prevent withdrawal of theanchor'memloer from the casing, a release member adapted to flex theresilient element to release the anchor member from the casing, and anouter casing surrounding said inner casing and covering said aperture.

9. A snap catch comprising a casing having apertures therein, an anchormember adapted to be inserted in said casing, said anchor member havingresilient elements having shoulders adapted to engage the edges of thesaid apertures to retain the anchor member in the casing, a releasememher having shoulders adapted to engage the edges of said apertures toretain the said release member in the casing, said release member beingadapted to flex the resilient elements of said anchor member to permitwithdrawal of the latter from the casing,

and an outer casing surrounding said inner casing and covering said.apertures.

FRED STREET.

